Gerard Hoffnung was an extraordinarily talented personality, an artist, cartoonist, musician, broadcaster, raconteur and impresario. Born in Germany in 1925, Hoffnung moved to England just before World War Two and by the 1950s had started appearing on the BBC and contributing to various humorous magazines such as Punch, The Strand Magazine and The Tatler. He devised the concept of spoof classical music concerts at London’s famous Royal Festival Hall, where he and a number of respected musicians and ensembles performed elaborate parodies of various serious musical, choral and spoken pieces.
This 3CD collection comprises the complete content of four albums, all recorded ‘live’ at his different performances, some of which were not released until after his tragic and untimely death from a cerebral haemorrhage in 1959 at the age of 34. Those albums are The Hoffnung Music Festival Concert, The Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival, The Hoffnung Astronomical Music Festival, and Hoffnung At The Oxford Union. The Oxford Union album, featuring him in his solo role as a raconteur, includes his legendary “barrel of bricks” story, consistently in demand over the years on BBC radio record request programmes.
It’s a magnificently eccentric and entertaining memento of a unique and brilliant polymath.
TRACKS
CD 1
1. INTRODUCTORY SPEECH T. E. Bean, General Manager, Royal Festival Hall
2. FANFARE Trumpeters Of The Royal Military School Of Music
3. A GRAND GRAND OVERTURE Morley College Symphony Orchestra
4. CONCERTO FOR HOSEPIPE AND STRINGS (3RD MOVEMENT) Dennis Brain & Morley College Symphony Orchestra
5. CONCERTO POPOLARE (A PIANO CONCERTO TO END ALL PIANO CONCERTOS) Yvonne Arnold & Morley College Symphony Orchestra
6. SYMPHONY NO. 94 IN G 'THE SURPRISE' - ANDANTE Members of the BBC Music Division
7. SPEECH BY GERARD HOFFNUNG Gerard Hoffnung
8. MAZURKA NO. 49 IN A MINOR, OP. 68 NO. 2 Tuba Quartet
9. LOCHINVAR (FOR SPEAKERS AND PERCUSSION) Yvonne Arnold & Gerard Hoffnung
10. VARIATIONS ON ANNIE LAURIE Festival Ensemble conducted by Gordon Jacob
From the album “The Hoffnung Music Festival Concert” (Columbia 33CX1406) 1956
CD 2
1. INTRODUCTORY MUSIC PLAYED IN THE FOYER The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
2. TWO EXCERPTS FROM 'A HOFFNUNG FESTIVAL OVERTURE' The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
3. METAMORPHOSIS ON A BED-TIME THEME The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
4. SUGAR PLUMS The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
5. THE FAMOUS TAY WHALE The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
6. A MOVEMENT FROM CONCERTO FOR CONDUCTOR AND ORCHESTRA The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
7. PUNKT CONTRAPUNKT The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
8. EXCERPTS FROM THE UNITED NATIONS The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
9. WALTZ FOR RESTRICTED ORCHESTRA The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
10. LET'S FAKE AN OPERA, OR THE TALES OF HOFFNUNG The Hoffnung Festival Opera Company & Chorus
From the album “The Hoffnung Interplanetary Music Festival” (Columbia 33CX1617) 1958
CD 3
1. GERARD HOFFNUNG AT THE OXFORD UNION PART 1 Gerard Hoffnung
2. GERARD HOFFNUNG AT THE OXFORD UNION PART 2 Gerard Hoffnung
From the album “At The Oxford Union” (Decca LF1330) 1960
3. INTRODUCTORY MUSIC PLAYED IN THE FOYER - RIGMAROLE Six Trumpets, Six Trombones And Four Percussion Of The Royal Military School Of Music
4. FESTIVAL ANTHEM The Trumpeters Of The Royal Military School Of Music
5. OVERTURE, LEONORA NO. 4 The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra with The Trumpeters Of The Royal Military School Of Music
6. DUET FROM THE COMIC OPERA "THE BARBER OF DARMSTADT" The Hoffnung Festival Choral Society
7. BALLAD OF COUNTY DOWN, MOSTLY IN D MAJOR The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra
8. EXCERPT FROM "BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST" The Hoffnung Festival Choral Society
9. HORRORTORIO The Hoffnung Festival Choral Society
10. MOBILE FOR SEVEN ORCHESTRAS The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra
From the album “The Hoffnung Astronautical Music Festival” (Columbia 33CX1785) 1961
